The smell of blood spread out, a rich scent like rust wafting through the air.
And laid out before them was a scene like hell.
Blood seeped from the cracks in the wooden huts built by the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, who had been forced to move into the forest. It flowed into the woods, staining the ground a deep red.
Under the dark night, the blood slowly spread. The clear, still moonlight contrasted with the flowing, dark red blood. The breeze that blew rustled the leaves in the trees, making an eerie sound in this setting.
It's a demon...
They never expected that in the short time they had been gone, the once peaceful forest would turn into this hell.
"Nojiko! Bellemere!" Luffy's pupils shrank, and he rushed forward quickly. Zoro followed closely behind him, his hand already on the hilt of his sword. The anger that had just died down reignited, burning even hotter than before!
Boom!
However, just as they were about to enter Nojiko's room, a dark figure suddenly shot out from the distance.
It was Bellemere!
Although they couldn't see her face clearly yet, her aura was unmistakable, and her hair color matched.
But the Bellemere now was completely different from before. The current Bellemere was hunched over, moving on all fours like a wild beast. A blood-red energy, like fire yet also like lightning, swirled around her.
Zoro instantly blocked Bellemere's attack with his scabbard. Bellemere's strength was unexpectedly powerful, forcing Zoro back several steps.
As she hunched over, her狰狞 face was finally visible. Several veins bulged on her forehead, her eyes were wide open, and they were filled with bloodshot.
She let out an involuntary whimper, and with the blood-red energy in her hands, she charged at Zoro again. Zoro tried to use the same tactic, but found that Bellemere's attack was highly corrosive. The scabbard he had used to block was already corroded, revealing the blade within.
"Let me!"
Luffy shouted loudly. While Zoro was hesitating about whether to draw his sword, Luffy had already stretched out his arm to attack.
But Bellemere's speed and agility were surprisingly fast. She dodged Luffy's punch directly. She placed her feet on a tree and used the recoil to charge at Luffy again.
"Aunt Bellemere! It's me!" Luffy yelled. He hastily dodged Bellemere's attack, but Bellemere, in her current state, couldn't hear anything. She was like a berserker, launching a continuous barrage of attacks.
"No, Luffy!" Zoro, who was watching from the side, suddenly said. "Bellemere's condition is very wrong. She's much stronger than before!"
Bellemere was a Lower Rank Five demon, and while strong among demons, she was definitely no match for Zoro and Luffy. But now, Bellemere was fighting Luffy on even terms, which was very abnormal.
Luffy threw another punch, but Bellemere dodged it again. Her fingernails blazed with blood-red energy, and she scraped them across Luffy's chest. His clothes were instantly torn open, and the red energy attached itself to the wound, corroding Luffy's flesh.
Luffy gritted his teeth and activated his Saint Mark again, using Conqueror's Haki. But this time, the immense pressure swept over Bellemere without having any effect on her.
"Human, meat!" Bellemere mumbled incoherently, but her eyes clearly showed a craving for flesh. Her crazed appearance was exactly like the man-eating demon from before.
"The demon king must have stripped Bellemere of her self-awareness," Zoro gritted out, then drew his black blade, Night.
"Luffy, Bellemere is beyond saving. Let me handle this!"
Five deep gouges were corroded into Luffy's chest, but he stared intently at Bellemere, showing no intention of yielding to Zoro.
"I won't!"
Luffy said. "I said I wanted Bellemere and her two daughters to live!"
"You..."
"Gear Second: Gum-Gum Gatling!" Luffy threw out a dozen punches, but Bellemere nimbly dodged through the gaps. But just as she was about to get close to Luffy, he suddenly changed his tactic.
"Gear Second: Gum-Gum Stamp!"
His move, previously known for its speed, was now transformed into power. Because of the close distance, Luffy's punch collided with Bellemere's claws.
The blood-red energy immediately attached itself to Luffy's body. The intense pain stimulated Luffy's brain, but he persevered and landed the punch.
In terms of strength, Bellemere was no match for Luffy. She was quickly hit in the head by Luffy and fell from the air, crashing to the ground.
But the blood-red energy on her body quickly transferred to Luffy, attaching itself and corroding his body.
But just as Luffy's hands were about to be completely corroded, Zoro suddenly appeared. His black blade, glinting with the clear moonlight, flashed, and a power spread from the blade. White moonlight, mixed with darkness, swept away the crimson energy.
"You're really something else. If it weren't for me, your arm would have been ruined." Zoro shouted angrily. "For the future Pirate King to be taken down by a minor demon's subordinate, that would have been truly embarrassing."
"Heh heh, I'm fine, aren't I?" Luffy chuckled and quickly walked to the crater that Bellemere had made in the ground.
"Bellemere, are you okay?!"
"She's completely turned into a demon. How could she possibly respond to you?" Zoro glanced at him, but he walked over as well.
But upon reaching her, he froze. He saw that Bellemere had already recovered from her demon form, but she didn't stand up. She just stared blankly upwards with hollow eyes.
Luffy's punch was indeed powerful, blasting a crater over ten meters in diameter and five or six meters deep. If Bellemere hadn't had a demon's body, she would have been killed by that punch.
"Bellemere..." Luffy called her name again. The sentence seemed to wake her from a dream. Bellemere's pupils suddenly shrank, and then she was filled with pain and despair. A complex emotion appeared on her face, contorting it.
"He... he's here!"
Bellemere said in terror. "He killed everyone in the village! Nojiko, where is Nojiko?!"
She suddenly jumped out of the crater and scrambled towards Nojiko's wooden hut.
Zoro and Luffy watched her retreating figure in silence. Nojiko...
She probably wasn't doing well.
----
You can read 30 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi